NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

Day 352 – Divine Revelation

Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World

Scripture focus: But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him, on him. He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence. Justice miscarried, and he was led off— and did anyone really know what was happening? He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of my people. They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man, even though he'd never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn't true. Still, it's what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life. Isaiah 53:4-10 The Message

As we approach the holiday season, it’s awesome to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus. But the event is made all the sweeter when we understand the significance of not only his birth – but his life, and ultimately his death and resurrection too. A few years ago our family shoved into the crowded pews of our church’s traditional Christmas Eve Service. As usual, it was packed. I find Christmas Eve and Easter services particularly interesting times to go to church. It’s during those services that “traditional” places in the pew get usurped by visitors. People visiting family from out of town, or perhaps others attracted to the special occasion – show up and sit in seats usually reserved for the “regulars.” Truth be told, I think most regulars are thrilled to share. On this particular Christmas Eve, we had a really big clan gathering, so we took up one pew and then some. A couple of our smallest family members eased into the sliver of space remaining in the pew in front of us. This shift placed an extremely attractive woman right in front of me. Sparkling with jewels, decked from head to toe in what had to be real fur, she was a sight to behold! Her beauty was only marred by one slight flaw of imperfection – her nonverbals - all of which told the tale of reluctant attendance at a worship service that obviously bored her. She fidgeted and plucked, fiddled with her fur and twisted her pearls. She poked at her hair and studied her shoes. She glared at the young man who had obviously brought her, and kept pointing at her watch in exasperation. And I had to conclude – if I hadn’t know the whole story, if someone had just plopped me down in a pew in the middle of some kid’s birthday who I didn’t even know – maybe I too would have been bored.

So before we set out mangers on our lawn or attend worship services or sing carols or stuff stockings in remembrance of him or give to the needy or throw food into a donation bin – read the whole story. Start at the prequel. Remember why he came. As we celebrate the birth of this child, let’s remember that his birth inadvertently resulted in the slaughter of a bunch of other babies. His life was blessed but it wasn’t without suffering. His mission was clear but his journey was not easy. His success was assured but that didn’t make him popular among his people. And once the context is set, it isn’t so hard to squeeze into an unfamiliar pew to hear the same old songs and remember one more time how Joseph and Mary ended up without reservations at a swanky resort hotel and ended up birthing the Son of God in a pen full of smelly barnyard animals.

Recommended reading: Habakkuk 1 and 2 in the morning; Habakkuk 3 and Revelation 9 in the evening

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